BCSSS

International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics

2nd Edition, as published by Charles François 2004 Presented by the Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science Vienna for public access.

About

The International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics was first edited and published by the system scientist Charles François in 1997. The online version that is provided here was based on the 2nd edition in 2004. It was uploaded and gifted to the center by ASC president Michael Lissack in 2019; the BCSSS purchased the rights for the re-publication of this volume in 200?. In 2018, the original editor expressed his wish to pass on the stewardship over the maintenance and further development of the encyclopedia to the Bertalanffy Center. In the future, the BCSSS seeks to further develop the encyclopedia by open collaboration within the systems sciences. Until the center has found and been able to implement an adequate technical solution for this, the static website is made accessible for the benefit of public scholarship and education.

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GAMES (von NEUMANN's) 2)

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G. BATESON states very clearly the nature and limits of von NEUMANN's games:

"1) The players… are by hypothesis, motivated only in terms of a single linear (sc. monetary) scale of value. Their strategies are determined: a) by the rules of the hypothetical game; and b) by their intelligence, which is, by hypothesis, sufficient to solve all problems presented by the game. Von NEUMANN shows that, under certain definable circumstances depending upon the number of players and upon the rules, coalitions of various sorts will be formed by the players, and in fact von NEUMANN's analysis concentrates mainly upon the structure of these coalitions and the distribution of value among the members" (1973, p.94).

Thereafter, BATESON shows why we should be careful in trying to use these models in social sciences:

"2) von NEUMANNIAN systems differ from human societies in the following respects:

a) His "players" are from the start completely intelligent, whereas human beings learn…

b) The mammalian value scale is not simple and monotone, but may be exceedingly complex (BATESON gives psychological and even biological examples)…

c) In the von NEUMANNIAN system the number of moves in a given "play" of a game is assumed to be finite. The strategic problems of the individuals are soluble because the individual can operate within a limited time perspective…

d) The von NEUMANNIAN players are, by hypothesis, not susceptible either to economic death or to boredom. The losers can go on losing forever, and no player can withdraw from the game…" (p.94-95).

In synthesis, real social interplay cannot be circumscribed by rigorously limited rules, isolated from context.

Categories

  • 1) General information
  • 2) Methodology or model
  • 3) Epistemology, ontology and semantics
  • 4) Human sciences
  • 5) Discipline oriented

Publisher

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science(2020).

To cite this page, please use the following information:

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (2020). Title of the entry. In Charles François (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics (2). Retrieved from www.systemspedia.org/[full/url]

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